Tearful Meeting Brings Peace

For 43 years, Tony Barone has wanted to thank the families of the six Korean men who sacrificed their lives to save his during the Korean War.

On Saturday, he finally got the chance to meet one of the families.

And the meeting helped heal the family`s grief.

``I feel like I`m seeing my father all over again,`` said Yu Song Dan.

Yu and his family flew into Fort Lauderdale on Friday night from Houston, where they now live, to meet Barone and see the memorial he set up for their father, Yu Ho Chun, and the other men.

``Since we don`t know where my father`s body is, this memorial site is more like a graveyard to us,`` said Yu, 60.

The six men were executed by Communist soldiers after helping the Americans escape. Yu, who helped his father and other other men, was spared.

In November, Barone had the names of the men etched into a brick walkway at the Veterans Park Memorial, 509 NE 22nd Drive, Wilton Manors.

``I wanted them to know that someone was thinking about them,`` said Barone, 70, a retired Air Force sergeant. ``That`s why I put this memorial up. I never expected to hear from any of the families. Now I`m glad I did it.``

On Saturday the Yu family attended a service at the site, which included speeches, a color guard, rifle unit presentation and a laying of a memorial wreath.

``It`s been with us for a long time,`` said Michele Pak, Yu`s niece and Yu Ho Chun`s granddaughter. ``My mother cries a lot remembering and, finally, this has brought some closure to what my mom was feeling for a long time.``

Yu and Barone first communicated several weeks ago, after Barone heard about a news story on Yu being awarded $100,000 by the U.S. Air Force for helping rescue the airmen.

Barone contacted the Air Force and was put in touch with Yu, who emigrated to Houston in 1988.

Yu`s father was a village leader and arranged the escape of the Americans after their B-29 bomber was shot down in North Korean territory on July 12, 1950.

The Americans left in a wooden boat and, four days later, were rescued off the Korean coast by a British frigate.

The Yu family was not so lucky. They were captured, tortured and stripped of their possessions. Then Yu Ho Chun was bayoneted to death.